Journey to the Cross 2024: beginning our Lenten journey

“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
(Joel 2:12-13)

Join us tonight, February 14, at 6:30 PM, in-person or via live stream for the beginning of our Lenten journey at Eastbrook Church with our annual Journey to the Cross service. Each year, we invite everyone to fast during the day and break the fast by participating in the Lord’s Supper together at this service. For more information on fasting, explore the resources I have pulled together here.

This also begins our Lenten series and devotional journey, “The Tree and the Vine,” written by the Eastbrook community that accompanies our new sermon series. You can access the devotional online, as a downloadable PDF, via the Eastbrook app, or through a limited-run of paper copies. I’ve included the introduction that I wrote for the devotional below.

For more information on the importance of Lent and the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, consider reading this post: “What is Ash Wednesday and Lent?“

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Where are your favorite places to be outside in God’s creation here in the Milwaukee area? As many of you probably know, I love hiking, and being out for a hike on the Ice Age Trail somewhere in the northern or southern units of the Kettle Moraine are treasured places for me. Walking amidst the beauty of God’s creation on the rising and falling hills and undulating prairies of Wisconsin is soothing to me. Yes, I know it may not be as stunning as mountain peaks or coral reefs, but I still love it. There is something about finding beauty in my own environment, right where I am, that speaks to me in these spaces. 

Perhaps that is why the Bible gives such significant attention to everyday aspects of creation to help us encounter God and life with God in fresh ways. Whether we hear Jesus’ parables about soil and seed or consider the Revelation picture of a new heaven and new earth with trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, the Bible is replete with reverent observances of the created world while also often connecting the creation with something more.

This year, our journey of Lent brings together organic images of creation found in two different parts of the Bible: the tree in Psalm 1 and the vine and branches in John 15. These two passages, while somewhat different, echo one another around two key themes about who Jesus is as the only truly righteous person who lives fully in God’s way as God’s Messiah and our invitation into a fruitful life with God overflowing from Jesus’ life in us.

The forty-day journey of Lent offers an opportunity for us to give focused attention to Jesus, seeing in His life, death, and resurrection the unique, one-of-a-kind Messiah who has come to give life to us. Lent also is an invitation to consider how we are responding to God’s invitation to a full life through Christ. Beginning on Ash Wednesday and carrying forward to Easter Sunday, this year we will walk through these two passages of Scripture that we might grow in awareness both of our need because of sin and God’s remedy through Jesus Christ. Lent is a focused journey that calls us to turn away from sin—to repent—and to turn toward God—to be transformed like Christ into a full and fruitful life with God.

The devotional is a forty-day guide written by people within the Eastbrook Church family to help us draw near to Jesus Christ in Lent. I pray this journey together as a church draws us into a transforming encounter with Jesus—His life, His death, and His resurrection. 

+ The peace of the Lord,

Matt Erickson
Senior Pastor, Eastbrook Church 

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How to Use this Devotional: 

• Each of the first six days of the week (Sunday-Friday) has a short devotional thought written by one of our Eastbrookers with questions at the end for deeper reflection.
• On Saturdays, one of our pastors, church leaders, or staff members will guide you through a different spiritual practice or discipline for the week. Even as we guide you through these practices, remember that the spiritual disciplines in and of themselves are not the goal. Rather, they are tools we use on our journey of sanctification as we aim to become more like Jesus Christ.
• You should have also been prompted to pick up a plant with this devotional, or find a plant to use alongside your Lenten devotional. Since the theme of our study this Lent is rooted in Biblical imagery of plant life, we want to encourage you to also care for a plant during this season as you grow, learn, and engage in spiritual practices. You will find a prompt each Saturday that connects to the week’s theme that will help you care for your plant. We pray that as you care for your plant, the words of Psalm 1 and John 15 will come alive for you in new and tangible ways.